Gun-carriage



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(-No Model.)

S. SEAB'URY. GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 420,170. Patented Jan. 28, 1890.

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N PUERS Phomljlbogmpher. WashinglurUDI'G llffll Inn/0102 01 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Jan. 28, 1890.

s. SEABURY.

' GUN CARRIAGE.

(No Model.)

iinesses N. PETERS. Fhelb-Lilbogmphur. Wilhihgton. 01c.

Y UNITED STATES SAMUEL SEABURY, OF BERGEN POINT, NEW JERSEY.

GUN-CARRIAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 420,170, dated January28, 1890.

Application filed March 16, 1889- Serial No. 303,599- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL SEABURY, lieutenant United States Navy,residing at Ber= gen Point, in the county of Hudson and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gun-Carriages, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention is more especially intended for naval guns, but may beapplied wholly or in part for guns for fortifications. Its principalobjects are, first, to reduce the dimensions of the carriage and thespace occupied in working it to a minimum; second, to reduce the strainproduced on the platform by the recoil; third, to provide for a moreperfect control of the gun under all circumstances 5 fourth, to simplifythemechanism for training and elevating the gun.

The first of these objects I accomplish by supporting the lower carriagein the manner hereinafter described entirely on a pivot which not onlybears all the weight, but affords resistance to recoil, and whichthereby dispenses with the cumbrous training-tracks commonly employed.

The second object I attain by means of a novel hydraulic recoilresisting apparatus and by the use ofroller-beds of novel constructionbetween the upper and lower carriages, whereby I am enabled to employ onthe lower carriage a level instead of an inclined slide or track for theupper carriage and gun to recoil upon.

The third object I accomplish in part by a valve which forms. part ofthe hydraulic recoil-resisting apparatus above mentioned, and which isoperated by the gun in its recoil and in part by a novel frictionapparatus hereinafter described.

The fourth object I accomplish by combinations of mechanism in which asingle shaft is made to operate both the mechanism for training and themechanism for elevating.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, and afterward point out its novelty in claims.

Figure 1 is a side view of a gun and a guncarriage embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section of the carriage, takenbelow the gun in the line 00 0c of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan, partly in'section, of the valve hereinabove mentioned as part of the hydraulicrecoil apparatus and of the means of adjusting its operation. Fig. 4: isa rear view of the gun and carriage. Fig. 5 represents a transversevertical section taken through the center of the carriage-pivot andthrough the trunnions of the gun. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view ofthe friction apparatus by which the position of the gun is in partcontrolled. Fig. 7 represents a 1ongit-udinal section of part of themechanism for training and elevating the gun. Fig. 8 represents a sideView, partly in section, of one of the roller-beds by which the uppersliding or longitudinally-moving carriage is supported on the lowertrainingcarriage thereof. Fig. 9 represents a transverse section of oneof the said roller-beds and the parts of the carriage supporting andsupported by it. Figs. 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are on'a scale about doublethat of Figs. 1, 2, 4:, and 5.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

A designates the pivot, on which the gun is entirely supported,consisting of an upright cylinder of large diameter-say five or sixtimes that of the caliber of the gun. This cylinder is provided at thebottom with a broad circular flange a, through which to bolt it to thedeck 13 of a vessel or other foundation, and around this flange isprovided an internally-toothed upwardly-projecting rim a, which isconcentric with the cylinder and which constitutes a stationary gear inwhich works a pinion b, to behereinafter more fully described, for thepurpose of training the gun.

O O designate the lower or training carriage, and E the upper sliding orlongitudinally-moving carriage running on ways provided on the lowerone. The lower carriage consists of a cylinder 0, which fits over thecylindrical pivot A, and the head of which is extended to form a tableO. The said cylinder is provided at the bottom around the pivot A with astuffing-box c, which is packed to confine within the upper part of thecylinder above the pivot a quantity of water, oil, or other liquid whichis employed to resist the recoil of the gun. In the upper end of thecylindrical pivot is a concentric circular groove d to receive a numberof balls cl, which constitute a ball-bearing upon which the weight ofall the movable portions of the carriage is supported.

D D designate two hydraulic cylinders arranged upon and firmly bolted tothe table 0, parallel with each other and at equal distances from avertical plane passing through the axes of the pivot and of the bore ofthe gun. These cylinders are fitted with pistons G G, connected by rodsG G with the upper carriage E, the said rods passing throughstuffing-boxes G in the rear ends of the cylinders D, which are in otherrespects closed.

The said cylinders are, however, provided near their rear ends withsmall lateral openings 6, (see Fig. 2,) which communicate with thespacebetween the top of the pivotA and the head of the cylinder 0 throughlongitudinal passages e in the walls of the cylinders and a transversepipe or passage e and vertical passage 6 provided in the table 0. Thesepassages may be understood by reference to Figs. 2, 3, and 5.

- I have shown in Fig. 1 attached to the cylinderC a hand-pump 1?, forfilling the space in the upper part of said cylinder and in the backparts of the cylinders D with water, oil,

' or other liquid.

The upper carriage E, which contains the bearings for the trunnions f ofthe gun V, does not slide directly on ways on the lower carriage or ontrucks fixed relatively to one carriage or the other, as is usual, butis supported on roller-beds, which run on parallel horizontal ways g,supported or provided 011 the table C of the lower carriage. These waysare represented as constructed on the tops'of the hydrauliclcylinders D.The rollerbeds consistv each of rollers I and asaddlepiece h. Therollers are constructed as best shown in Figs. 8 and 9, each with twocircular headsi of uniform diameter and a connecting-jonrnal 'L" of adiameter half that of theheads 'L'. The journals 2" bear upon the ways gon the lower carriage, and the upper carriage is supported 011 the.heads 1; The saddle-pieces consist of bars fitted between the heads 1'of the-rollers, and have on their under sides bearings for the journalst". These, saddles serve the purpose of keeping therollers properlyspaced and prevent them from fouling or interfering with each other. Asthe upper carriage and the gun move backward with the recoil and moveforward again, after the recoil, the journals of the roll ers roll onthe ways g, and the upper carriage runs on the heads 2' of the rollers;but,

owing to the difference of diameter between the heads of the rollers andtheir'connectingjournals, the rods only run back half the distance thatthe gun and the carriage E run back, and hence I am enabled to usealarger number of rollers and a longer bearing or roller-bed for theupper carriage than would be possible with simply cylindrical rollerswithout having the roller-bed run beyond the ways g at each end. Inorder to hold the up.

per carriage down, it is provided with inwardly-turned flanges j, whichrun under rabbets on the lower carriage.

Within the cylinders D, in frontof the pistons, are arranged springs J,for the purpose of checking the rebound after the recoil and of servingas buifers to prevent a too violent forward movement of the gun. Thesesprings may be of any suitable kind, and are represented as composed ofcylinders of india-rubber surrounded by coils of steel. The frontagainst which the springs J abut, are provided with open ings to allowfree access of the atmosphere to the cylinder in front of the pistons.

The act-ion ot' the carriage under the recoil is as follows: As theupper carriage 0 runs,

back, the pistons G connected with it are met the resistance of thewater, oil, or other fluid behind them in the cylinders D, which runsout slowly from the said cylinders through the passages e c e e into theupper part of the cylinder 0 of the lower carriage. By this action ofthe liquid the lower carriage is slowly raised on the pivot, so that thefinal resistance of the recoil is that due to the sum of the weights ofthe gun and the upper and lower carriages. This weight serves to producethe rebound or final movement of the gun by causing the liquid to beforced back from the upright cylinder G into the horizontal cylinders D,behind the pistons G. In order to better control the recoil, I employ apiston-valve 70, for the purpose of more or less contracting the openingof the passage 6 as shown in the sectional view.Fig. 3, and also shownin dotted outlinein Fig. 2. Iconnect the stem of this valve with ahorizontal slideway K, which is attached to the gun-carriage byarranging the head 7a of said. stem in a slot k in the said slideway K,which is secured to the bottom of the upper carriage The slot in thisslideway being arranged obliquely in a-lateral direction to the ways 9,the valve, 70 is caused to move over the opening of the passage 2 as thegun re- .coils, and so to contract the communication between thehorizontal cylinders and the vertical cylinder, so that as the recoil isgradually checked the freedom with which the liquid leaves therecoil-cylinders D is also checked. In order to regulate the degree ofcontraction of the opening in the passage 6 by the valve 70, theslideway K is made ad,- justable at different degreesof obliquity to theways g to produce a greater or less movement of the valve. For thispurpose the said slideway is pivoted at its rear end by a pin Z to thecarriage E, and at its front end is movin different which the slidewayis fitted and which may be screwed up against the front end'of the saidcarriage.

In order to hold the gun and its upper carriage in any position upon thelower carriage, a horizontal toothed rack L is connected with the uppercarriage on one side thereof (see Figs. 1 and 5) and gears with atoothed wheel L, which isarranged on an upright axle it, carried by thelower carriage. This wheel has applied to it a friction-brake n M, towhich pressure is applied to produce the friction by means of a spiralspring a The axle n is fitted with a square to an opening ofcorresponding form in the table-O in such manner that it may movevertically, but is prevented from turning, and it has one member n ofthe friction-brake firmly'secured to it, the other member n beingsecured to the wheel L, and both it and the said wheel being capable ofturning on the axle 'It. The

lower end of the axle it passes through a hollow screw or, which screwsthrough a fixed bearing 01 secured to the outside of the cylinder O ofthe lower carriage. The upper end of this screw n serves as a bearingfor the spiral spring nfithe upperend of which presses against the lowermember n of the'frictionbrake. A washer n is shown interposed be tweenthe screw 01 and the spring. By screwing the screw n upward or downwardthe pressure of the spring upon the friction-brake and the degree offriction produced are adjusted. In the normal eonditon of the carriagethe spring presses the lower member 91 of the brake against the uppermember a and presses the upper face of the wheel L against the underside of the table 0 in the lower carriage. The friction thus producedprevents the wheel L from turning, and so causes the pinion to hold therack and prevent the upper carriage from moving on the lower one. Forthe purpose of liberating the upper carriage when necessary a hand-leverM is provided, working on a fulcrum-pin n secured to the table 0 of thelower carriage, the said lever bearing upon the top of the axle it. Byapplying manual pressure to the rear end of this lever the axle n isdepressed and the lower member n of the friction-brake is pushed downfrom the upper member 71*, leav ng the latter and the pinion L entirelyfree to be turned by the rack.

I will now proceed to describe the mechanism for training and elevatingthe gun, which operations may be both performed by power applied by handto a horizontal shaft 1), arranged on one side of the carriage parallelwith the ways g, on which the upper carriage runs. This shaft 1) and'itsappurtenances, including a hand-wheel p for turning it, are shown inFig. 7, partly in section. The training is effected through the mediumof an endless screw 1) on the said shaft, and the elevation through themedium of an endless screw q thereon. These endless screws b and q areneither of them fast to the said shaft,

but are on sleeves b and g, respectively, the said sleeves and the shaftbeing so fitted that the shaft may turn independently of the sleeves,but that either of the said "sleeves may be thrown into gear with theshaft, so as to be compelled to turn with it by means of a third sleeveor, clutch 4', which is fitted to slide lengthwise upon the said shaft,.but incapable of turning thereon, and which is provided at its oppositeends with clutchteeth 0", to gear with corresponding clutchteeth at theends of the sleeves b and q, respectively. The clutch-teeth r, forgearing with the sleeve 19 are fully shown in Fig. 7, in which theclutch r is outof gear with the sleeve 6 but the clutch-teeth of the.sleeve 19 and those of corresponding ends of the clutch r are not sowell shown, because the latter teeth are in gear. The sleeves b and qconstitute the bearings in which the shaft 19 is supported,..the sleeveb being itself supported to turn, but confined lengthwise in a bearingb, secured to the lower carriage O O, and the sleeve q beingsupported toturn, but confined longitudinally in a bearing 1 provided on the rearportion of the upper carriage E. The bearing (1 is free to Slide uponthe shaft 19, as the upper carriage runs back and forth on the lowerone, so that the shaft is always properly supported.

The turning of the lower carriage for training the gun is effected bymeans of the pinion ?9, hereinbefore mentioned, gearing with thestationary circular toothed rack a. The pinion b is fast on the lowerend of the upright shaft 17, which is carried by the lower carriage in alower bearing 17 in a bracket, attached to the lower part of theeylinder.C and an upper bearing in the table 0'. This shaft 1) has fastto it a worm-gear b gearing with the endless screw bicarried by thehorizontal shaft 10, for the purpose of turning the shaft 1) by theshaft 19 for training the gun.

The elevation of the gun is effected through a transversely-arrangedshaft 5, supported 'in bearings in the carriage E near the bottom of therear portion thereof. This shaft 3 has fast upon it two pinions s, whichgear with two toothed racks 3 depending from the gun,

the said racks being kept in gear with the said pinions by means of twoguide-rollers s on a shaft 8 supported in the carriage Ein rear of theshaft 8. The shafts is furnished at one end with a worm-gear 8 whichgears with the endless screw (1 on the sleeve q of the shaft 13.

In order to provide for the moving of the. 'clutch- 7' into gear witheither the sleeve 12 or that q, according as it is desired to train orto elevate the gun by means of said shaft, the said shaft is made hollowfor the reception of a long rod 2, the front end of which is connectedwith the clutch bya transverse pin IIO provided in the shaft, as shownin Fig.7.

The rear end of the said rod, which protrudes through the rear end ofthe shaft 13, is furnished with a handle 6 by which the said rod ismoved longitudinally to bring the clutch r independently of the shaft19, the sleeve q is provided with a crown-piece g to serve as a handlefor turning thesaid sleeve when the clutch r is out of gear with it.This permits the sleeve q and the endless screw q to be turned forelevating the gun at the same time the gun is being trained by turningthe shaft 19, the clutch being then in gear with the sleeve b In orderto provide for turning the guncarriage more rapidly than it can beturned by the endless screw q, means may be provided by uncoupling theworm-wheel b from the shaft p to permit the said shaft to be turned byany suitable appliance-as, for in stance, a hand-wheel upon it.

By combining both the mechanism for training the gun and for elevatingit with a single shaft not only is the mechanism for training andelevating simplified, but the chances of the destruction of themechanism by an enemys shot are reduced. It may be understood byreference to Fig. 2 that the table 0 of the lower carriage 1s made wideenough to receive a shield for the protection of the upper part of thecarriage and operating mechanism and of the men working the un.

b 'What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,i s

l. The combination, in a gun-carriage, of a pivot, a lower carriageturning on the said pivot, a ball-bearing on the head of the pivot forthe support of said carriage, and an upper carriage on which the gun ismounted and which is fitted to run backward and forward on the saidlower carriage, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, in a gun-carriage, of a cylindrical pivot, a lowerturning carriage comprising an upright cylinder fitted to said pivot, anupper carriage fitted to run in the direct-ion of its own length on saidturning carriage, hydraulic cylinders 011 said turning carriage, eachcommunicating at one end with a space forliquid between the head of thepivot and the head of said upright cylinder, and pistons connected withsaid sliding carriage and working in said hydraulic cylinders to forcethe liquid therefrom into the said vertical cylinder, substantially asand for the purpose herein described.

The combination, with the pivot A and the lower training carriagecomprising an upright cylinder 0, fitted to said pivot, of the hydrauliccylinders D D, placed on the said lower carriage and having acommunication with the water-space within said upright cylinder, and avalve in said communication, substantially as herein set forth.

4. The combination, with the upper longitudinally-moving carriage andthe lower carriage comprising an upright cylinder and ways upon whichthe longitudinal movement of the said upper carriage takes place, ofhorizontal cylinders on the said lower carriage, pistons working in saidhorizontal cylinders and connected with said upper carriage,communications between said upright and horizontal cylinders, avalve insaid communications, a slideway on said upper carriage, arrangedlaterally oblique to the said ways, and a sliding connection betweensaid valve and slideway, substantially as and for the purpose herein setforth.

5. The combination, with the upper longitudinally-movin g carriage andthe lower training-carriage comprising an upright cylinder, ofhorizontal cylinders on the said lower carriage, pistons working in saidhorizontal cylinders and connected with said upper carriage,communications between said upright and horizontal cylinders, a valve insaid communications, a slideway pivoted at one end of said uppercarriage and laterally adjustable thereto at its other end, and asliding connection between the said valve and said slideway,substantially as herein described.

6. The combination, with the lower carriage provided with straight waysand the upper carriage adapted to run on said ways, of a series ofrollers, each having a portion of its length of a smaller and portionsthereof of a larger diameter, the portions of smaller diameter beingfitted to the said ways and the portions of larger diameter supportingthe upper carriage, and saddle-pieces containing bearings for theportions of said rollers of smaller diameter for spacing said rollers,all substantially as herein described.

7. The combination, with the lower carriage and the upper carriagecapable of lon gitudinal movement thereon, of a toothed rack-secured tothe upper carriage, a pinion gearing with said rack to be rotated by thelongitudinal movement of the said rack with the upper carriage, an axlefor said pinion supported on the lower carriage, a frictionbrake appliedto said pinion, a spring applied to said brake to restrain the rotarymovement of the upper carriage, and a lever for relieving said brakefrom the said spring and liberating said pinion, all substantially asand for the purpose herein set forth.

8. The combinatiomwith a gun and a guncarriage consisting of a lowercarriage, a pivot upon which said carriage turns, and an upper carriagearranged to run lengthwise on said lower carriage, of a fixed circularrack surrounding the pivot, an upright shaft carried by said lowercarriage and geared with said rack, racks attached to and dependent fromthe gun, a horizontal shaft and pinions carried by the upper carriage,arranged transversely thereto, and geared with said dependent racks, athird shaft supported in one bearing on the upper carriage and inanother bearing on the lower carriage, sleeves on the said third shaftgeared one with said transversely-arranged shaft and the otherwith saidupright shaft, and a clutch on the said third shaft for engaging witheither of said sleeves, as may be desired, for training or elevating thegun, substantially as herein set forth.

9. The combination, with upper and lower carriages O, C, and E, of theupright shaft b and its pinion b and worm-wheel 71 for training the gun,and the transverse shaft 8 and its pinions s and Worm-gear s forelevating the gun, the hollow shaft 10 and its loose herein described.

SAMUEL SEABURY. Witnesses: r

FREDK. HAYNES, L. M. EGBERT.

